UK’s Wind Energy Exceeds 5 GW Threshold

A record amount of electricity has been generated by wind energy in Great Britain, according to National Grid.

The new high was reached on Sunday morning, when wind generated more than 5 gigawatts for the first time – more than 12% of the nation’s electricity needs for industry, businesses and households – enough to power more than ten million British homes.

It’s the first time that wind energy has exceeded the 5 gigawatt threshold in Britain.

RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Maf Smith said:

“This new record proves that Britain is generating an increasingly significant amount of clean electricity from wind. The quantity of low-carbon energy that wind is feeding into the grid is continuing to surge upwards. We’re set to generate at least 15% of the UK’s electricity from wind by 2020.

As well as creating tens of thousands of green-collar jobs, and the wider environmental benefits, wind gives us another very important advantage – energy security. The UK can take control of the way we generate our power by using a secure, natural, local source of energy rather than relying on imports of expensive fossil fuels from unstable parts of the world. Wind as a crucial part of our energy mix and is becoming more important as extra onshore and offshore capacity is added to the system.”

In fact, the total amount of electricity generated from wind in the UK is even higher. A further 2.5 gigawatts of wind capacity, which is connected to local and regional electricity networks, is not metered. This extra output isn’t recorded by National Grid officials because most of it usually serves the local area rather than being fed into the grid nationwide.

[mappress]

Press release, February 5, 2013; Image: continental-lighting